2025 Bridge-Building Innovation Showcase & Awards Event
What is the Showcase?
On September 24th, 2025, together with the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon, partners of the Listen First Coalition are delighted to host the Founding Debates 2025: Bridging Divides from George Washington to Today as part of Mount Vernon’s annual Founding Debates Program.
The Showcase is an evening event at Mount Vernon where we will celebrate teams of community members from different geographic communities in America who are walking a patriot’s path - following in the footsteps of George Washington himself.
The event will also feature a panel of esteemed leaders speaking about the importance of bridging divides to strengthen our social fabric and democracy.
You are eligible for the Showcase if...
You are part of a team of at least 5 Americans working across generational, racial, ideological, and/or other key differences to…
Solve problems…
Where you live…
Outside of your primary employment!
Are you coming together across differences to solve problems in your community?
Would you like to share your team’s awesome work with the rest of our country and have fun in the process?
Why the Showcase?
Give you and your team of community members a platform to showcase the concrete initiatives you’re taking to strengthen your community and the relationships you’ve built across divides through the process.
Receive an Award for your achievements, presented by Listen First Project
Inspire Americans not involved in these types of efforts to get involved in problem-solving across differences and maybe even join your effort!
Prizes for teams selected for the Showcase
Have your work showcased on stage at Mount Vernon in Washington D.C.! Travel and lodging expenses covered for two team members to attend the Showcase.
Receive a dignifed award for your accomplishments.
A multi-media, national platform to share your team’s efforts and amplify awareness of the issue you’re addressing
The opportunity to connect with other diverse teams of problem-solvers across the country
Invitation to attend the in-person Bridging Movement Summit of leaders and pracitioners on Sept. 25-26 directly following the Showcase
Showcase Selection Process
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Your team completes this Application Form by the July 16 deadline. Representatives from each of the Showcase organizing partners will apply the following criteria to determine which applicants advance to the next round:
Teams must involve at least 5 individuals from the local area, which could be as small as a neighborhood, or as large as a county in scope.
Teams must have been working together for a minimum of 3 months to address an identified community issue.
Issues being addressed by a Team must involve bringing people together across lines of difference (generational, racial, ideological, faith, political, etc.)
Team members themselves must represent different backgrounds or perspectives in order to model how they are able to work across their own lines of difference to address an issue in their community.
Teams must be working to develop collaborative, action-oriented solutions. Their work may involve constructive dialogue activities to engage the broader community in the collaborative solution development and implementation, but dialogue alone cannot be the full scope of what the team is doing.
Team members must either all be volunteers, or the team must represent a collaboration between local organizations and community members who are volunteering their time. In other words, the teams MAY NOT be made up of only paid-staff members of an organization.
Teams must be meeting in person at least some of the time to do the work.
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Finalists will be selected to conduct a one-hour Zoom interview with two Showcase Judges in mid-to-late July, so the Judges can learn more about your team and the problem you’re addressing across differences.
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The Showcase Judges will score the finalists, deliberate, and select teams to be part of the Showcase.
Decisions will be communicated in early August.
Showcase Event will occur in the evening on Sept. 24, 2025.
Showcase Organizers
